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■Crystal glass |
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| Crystal glass is a form of glass with a high degree of transparency like crystallized quartz. Lead-crystal, which is also known as the “Queen of Glass”, is high-quality glass containing lead oxide. Generally, glasswork is qualified as “crystal” when it contains over 24 percent lead oxide (PbO). The lead content level determines the specific nature and quality of crystal glass. Kagami Crystal’s glassware is created with first-class crystal glass with selected raw materials (including lead oxide, silica sand and potash) through refined design and true artisan techniques. |
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| ■Overlaying glass |
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| The surface of colorless, transparent crystal glass is coated in a thin layer of colored crystal glass. Then, when it is subjected to delicate cutting or engraving, the underlying colorless crystal glass stands out as a wonderful contrast to the top coat of colored glass. Coloration is extremely important. The brilliant red hue that characterizes our products is created by adding gold. The red color created by adding gold is called “gold ruby”. Its bright distinctive hue provides an excellent contrast to colorless transparent lead crystal. In addition to bronze red, we produce purple glass tinted with manganese, blue glass tinted with cobalt, brown-gold, generated by adding selenium and green, tinted with chromium. Thus, a variety of brilliant color-coated crystal ware is created using our proprietary techniques. |
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| ■Free-blown glass |
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| This is a fundamental technique used to shape crystal glass without the use of a mold. Glass is mouth-blown by a glass blower who uses his hands to create various shapes. Glass is literally handmade by this method, allowing the craftsman perfect freedom to use his imagination in manipulating the glass into various shapes and sizes. In other words, the artistic sense of the creator is always tested. While the glass is being shaped, other techniques can be added. For example, color coated crystal can be added to enhance decoration. Molten glass will begin to cool and harden very quickly in a few minutes. So a craftsman dips the glass piece into the pool of melted glass to reheat it many times until the desired form is achieved. It sometimes takes several hours to create a single piece. This is the one of the techniques required to produce true artisanship in glass. |
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| ■Cutting |
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| This technique involves engraving delicate, geometric patterns on the surface of glassware using a range of grinding wheels. All patterns produced in this way are variations of three basic cuts: the diamond, the miter and the hollow. The end of the seventeenth century saw the creation of cut glass that incorporated the brilliant luster of lead crystal invented in England and excellent refraction on intricately cut facets achieved by new cutting techniques. This trend immediately swept the whole of Europe. Since then, this cutting technique has enjoyed an unparalleled position as one of the most important processing techniques of lead crystal. Fine cut glass can only be created when this finest cutting technique is combined with fine quality lead crystal with high refractive index. From the early decades of the twentieth century, our cut glass has earned a high reputation for depth, accuracy and sharpness of its cuts, as well as its elegant design. |
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| ■Engraving (Gravure) |
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| We use a technique known as “copper-wheel engraving”, widely regarded as one of the finest engraving techniques. A basic design, drawn on the surface of glass, is cut with a copper-wheel, with fine abrasive emery sand powder mixed with oil applied to the edge of the wheel. The wheel is rotated on a spindle. This technique, followed by polishing and softening process, can produce a very delicate and subtle shaded effect, which is unachievable by normal cutting techniques. Copper-wheel engraving technique was developed in the Bohemia region of central Europe with the advent of Bohemian Crystal, and still is used by world’s leading glassware manufacturers. It is a very difficult technique to master. Skilled artisans who have mastered this process are awarded the designation of the highest rank of master craftsmen. |
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